I have another gorgeous house tour for you guys! I came across Gwen of The Makerista just last week through the BHG Blogger Awards. I thought her house was so beautiful, so I immediately reached out to see if I could share it with you all. I was especially impressed because she talks a lot about decorating on a budget--and she has two kids!! So I thought it would be interesting to get her advice and find out a little bit about how she does it. Ready? Let’s go.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about gratitude and contentment. Ben and I commute to work together (30 minutes to an hour each way, depending on traffic), and we often get into long conversations about life in the car. I tell you what, a long commute is never fun, but it definitely makes it better to share it with someone you love and enjoy talking to! Anyways, we’ve been talking lately about how the current of this age is to never be satisfied. To always want more, to feel like you’ve never accomplished enough, to constantly chase that next thing. To some extent, I think that’s just human nature. But I also think that it's a recent shift with my generation. Am I wrong? I feel like not too long ago, people were more content with what they had…but our generation has been so groomed to dream big and do it all, that “settling” for anything less feels like failure. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to believe in your dreams and to make them happen, but I’d also like to feel more contentment and satisfaction with my life as it is now, rather than always looking forward to tomorrow. So what’s the key?

There are probably a million things that contribute to feeling satisfied--but today I want to talk about one point in particular that makes a big difference: gratitude. I really like this quote, by David Steindl-Rast: “It is not joy that makes us grateful, it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”

I recently read this post on Apartment Therapy, about being positive when it comes to your home. It talked about how when guests come over, so often we’ll immediately launch into apologies for all the things we don’t like about our home--the mess, the unfinished projects, the items that need fixing, etc. And if they say something positive about our place, we laugh it off or dismiss it. We might think this is being humble, but in actuality it’s not very kind to the person paying you the compliment, and it just perpetuates a standard of perfection that no one can actually attain to. Wouldn’t it be so much better to simply say, “Thanks so much! That really means a lot,” when someone pays you a compliment? I think so.

And I think you can apply that same principle to just about anything. If someone tells you that you look beautiful, just say “thank you!” rather than talking about how your shirt is actually two years old, or you have a zit, or you ate a huge dinner and you feel fat, or whatever. I’d like to practice this--being grateful for what I have, appreciating it, and enjoying where I’m at, without thinking about what could be better.

What are your thoughts on this topic?? I’d love to hear how you stay positive in the present. How do you work toward your goals while staying joyful and satisfied in your current situation?

I’ve always wanted to have my own business cards. I feel like they’re so official ("Here, have one of my business cards! See, I’m legit.") You know what I mean, right? In truth, I don’t really need business cards that much--most of the time I connect with people online. But there have been a few times when I wished I had some to pass out--something for people to remember my name and contact info, and (I admit) to make me feel more official! So when RubberStamps.com reached out to see if I’d like to try out some of their stamps, right away I thought of making some DIY business cards.

I liked the idea of stamping my business cards, because I thought it would be nice for them to have a little quirky, DIY feel. I’m all about budget-friendly, unique, and handmade decor, so it’s fitting for my business cards to have those same qualities. But I also wanted to keep them fairly simple. I’ve seen some bloggers’ business cards that are awesome (painted, glittered, with 3D elements, hand-stitched leather and more)--but look like they’d take twenty minutes to finish just one “card.” I don’t have that kind of time! So I decided to stamp my business cards on both the front & back, then paint the edges. Edge-painting business cards has been pretty popular lately (I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve seen it). I really like how it adds a little extra element, without taking much extra time to do. And if I get sick of it later, no big deal. I can just stamp more cards!

For this project, you will need:

Custom stamps (mine are from here)
Blank business cards
Ink pad (I used black, but I think a color would be fun in the future)
Acrylic paint in the color of your choice
A foam paintbrush
Clamps or something heavy to weigh the stack of cards down

To get started, start stamping the front side of all the cards, then flip them over and do the back side. I didn’t worry too much about getting each card perfectly centered. That’s part of the charm of hand-stamped cards, in my opinion. Each one is a little different!

The other nice thing about using stamps is that I can always switch up my cards later! I could stamp different colored cards, luggage tags, etc. And since I don’t have to worry about running the cards through a printer, I can use really thick cardstock--or any material that I could stamp. Little wood rounds would be cute, don’t you think??

For the edges, I put a heavy block on top of the stack to hold it in place. You could use clamps, or any heavy paperweight type object you have. Then I simply painted the edges with acrylic paint. I put a blank card on top, because I figured it would get some paint around the edges.

After the edges were dry, I peeled the cards apart. So simple!!

I really like how my cards turned out, and I’m super excited about my stamps. I like to switch things up a lot, so I’m sure I’ll use these same stamps in a different way at some point to give my business cards a whole new look. Now I just need to make a DIY business card holder so I can keep my cards in my purse, ready to give out!

For more creative business card ideas, check out my business cards board on Pinterest.

This post was written in partnership with RubberStamps.com. I was really happy with how my stamps turned out, and I can think of so many other projects I’d like to get custom stamps for--addressing envelopes, party invitations, monograms, etc. I totally recommend them!

Last Friday, Kevin of Thou Swell tagged me in this post to play in a little blog series called Now and Then. Through his post, I was introduced to several awesome bloggers that I had never come across before (but am so happy that I found!). See their posts here, here, here, and here. So today, instead of doing my typical Casual Friday post, I thought I’d join in the fun and share a little bit about myself, now and then.

I don’t have a great memory, so my “then” isn’t that long ago, but it’s a time I remember really vividly--my senior year of high school. It was a year of changes and possibilities--a hard year, a fun year, and a bittersweet year in many ways. I have a ton of great memories from that year. High on the list has got to be the “romantic” dinner parties that my two best friends and I would throw for ourselves. We’d get dressed up, do our hair & makeup, and make a fancy dinner, then light candles, put on some Josh Groban, and talk about all our hopes & dreams (and of course, our crushes). Ha! But it was a tough year too--I totally thought I was an adult and deserved to be treated as such, so my mom and I argued about just about everything. It was also my last year in Spokane, the city where I grew up, and my last year as a “kid” living at home with no real responsibilities. So it was sad, too. Needless to say, 2006 was pretty significant in my life so it stands out in my memory.

If any of you are bloggers, I’d love for you to also follow along in this series (I want to read your posts!). In particular, I’d like to tag Laicie, Ann-Marie, and Jessica. Only if you guys want to!

Happy weekend, everyone. Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane.